The Pack
by Beautyandthebooks
Summary: What would have happened if, in The Awakening, Derek and Chloe had run into the Pack. Would they have been helped or punished? Would Derek find what he's been looking for? This is one for the Derek and Jeremy fans. Pack from Otherworld series.
1. The Pack

_"Here's the deal," Derek said._

_"Deal?" Liam laughed. "This isn't up for negotiation, pup."_

_"It is if you want my cooperation. I'll go with you, but the first thing we do is get her on a bus. After I've seen her leave safely, I'm all yours."_

_"Uh-huh." Liam rolled back on his heels. "Is your intelligence feeling a mite insulted, Ramon?"_

_"Sure is." Ramon strolled up beside his friend._

_"You said you'd release her-"_

_"And we will. Once you've done your part. Until then, she's our collateral to make sure you do. And don't worry; we'll take good care-"_

"Hold it right there!" shouted a feral voice that wasn't coming from the two werewolves before me. I felt strong arms come from behind me and something being put over my mouth. It smelled like pennies; then everything went black.

I woke up with my hands cuffed behind my chair. I looked around the room. It wasn't what a person would normally expect to see in an interrogation room. There was an expensive looking wood desk before me and behind it were bookshelves full of beautifully covered books.

The door opened and a man came through. He was tall, had blond hair and blue eyes. He was in his late thirties and very scary looking. He pulled out the chair and sat down, throwing a manila folder on the table. It had my name written on the designated place. I just kept looking at the table.

"Chloe Saunders, 15, sent to Lyle House and now reported as missing." He sighed, like he was tired and wanted the truth, I'm sure maybe part of that was true. "I'm going to ask you some questions and you're going to be straight with me, okay?"

"O-o-okay," I stuttered. I closed my eyes. This was a horrible time to deal with a stutter when faced with a freaky guy. "Derek didn't d-d-d-do anything!"

"No interruptions," he growled and I shut up.

"How do you know Liam and Ramon?" he asked. I looked up at his face trying to let him know that I was being truthful.

"W-w-we just m-met them," I choked out. He leaned back, crossing his arms.

"Who's we?" he asked. I knew there was a method to his madness but I couldn't follow it so I just went along with it, hoping eventually he'd get to the truth.

"M-me and Derek," I said. I tried to situate myself in the chair so I was comfortable. The cuffs were tight. Never in my life had I been in handcuffs. I guess that's not all too surprising.

"Your boyfriend," he sighed, changing his line of questioning, "What are you two doing in Syracuse?"

"Derek's n-n-not my b-boyfriend," I stuttered. Why would he think Derek's my boyfriend? I guess I couldn't fault him. Fifteen year-old girl is traveling with a sixteen year-old boy, both having escaped a psych ward house. My life was turning into a lifetime movie.

"Sorry, what are you and your _friend_ doing in Syracuse?" he asked gruffly.

"We're going to see a friend of his father's," I got out without stuttering once. Of course, given the circumstances it didn't really brighten my day.

"How'd you find out that," he looked in the folder, "_Derek_ was a werewolf?" he asked growling Derek's name. He leaned forward on the table causing me to lean back. I'm guessing that this man was a werewolf too. Then he opened his mouth in a toothy smile. Yep, I'd definitely say he was a werewolf.

"He didn't tell me," I said and the man raised an eyebrow, prodding me to continue. "I guessed."

"You guessed?" he said. And when he said it, it sounded lame. But it was the truth. I just nodded and then he huffed. "So you're telling me that you just _guessed_ that your friend was a werewolf? How many breadcrumbs did he leave you until you figured it out?"

"H-h-he didn't w-w-want me to f-find out," I stuttered.

"Kid, I'm trying to help you out, but you're not making any sense. Did you know that werewolves are not supposed to tell humans what we are?"

"I d-don't know, yes? I guess that makes sense," I rambled on and he smiled slightly.

"What do you know about Derek?" he asked and when I didn't answer he expanded. "What do you know about werewolves? Is there anything special about Derek? Do you know who his father is? Anything?"

I stayed quiet. I didn't know what was okay to say and what wasn't. "You'll make things easier on yourself if you tell me what you know."

"I don't know who Derek's father is," I sighed, "I don't even think he knows."

"Why not? His mum sleep around?" he asked with a professional tone.

"It's because of the Edison Group," I let it out. It felt good for someone to know something.

"The Edison Group?" he asked with curiosity, "What's that?"

"Have you heard of Samuel Lyle?" I asked, he grunted something unintelligible and I granted that a non-committal grunt. I couldn't tell it was yes or no so I continued. "He did tests on supernaturals. The Edison Project is doing that. Well, it's already been done." I sighed and looked around the room, anywhere else but the man before me. "They did experiments on babies. Experimenting with their powers, I'm not really sure _what_ they did. I don't even think they know.

"They separated the experiments and waited, watching to see which ones would succeed and which ones would need to be terminated. When the experiments came into their powers, or whatever you'd call it for a werewolf, they brought them together in a controlled environment."

"Lyle House," said the man. He leaned back with bewildered eyes. "So you're trying to tell me that people are trying to continue the experiments that Samuel Lyle was trying to do?"

I nodded. The whole thing made me think I was crazy. "And you're telling me that Derek's one of the experiments?" I nodded again. I could hear the pity in his voice when he asked the next question. "Are you one of the experiments?" I looked up into his eyes and nodded.

"You're a supernatural?" I nodded. "And that's how you guessed that Derek was a werewolf because you were a supernatural."

I shrugged at that. "He told me what I was." I said. He looked surprised that I'd said something. I was somewhat surprised too. I'd just been nodding after I gave my history lesson.

"And what are you, Chloe?" he asked. It might have been a simple question but the answer required a lot of trust. The only people that knew I was a necromancer were Simon, Derek and Tori. Well, those were the people I trusted with the information, the Edison Group obviously knew. I looked up at him and he must have seen the determination not to tell him in my eyes. "I'll be back," he said.

His eyes were kinder. He got up and walked towards the door, his back to me. "I'm a necromancer," I blurted. He stopped. He turned around and looked at me with disbelieving eyes.

"A necromancer," he ventured and I nodded. He stood there for a moment looking at me with shock. The door opened that the man was about to exit. A man stood there looking very composed. I don't know if that comforted me or not. He motioned the man who was talking to me to leave us alone.

He walked over to the table and sat down. "Chloe, I am the Alpha of the Pack, my name is Jeremy. Now, I need you to tell me all you know about the Edison Group."


	2. Interrogation

_He walked over to the table and sat down. "Chloe, I am the Alpha of the Pack, my name is Jeremy. Now, I need you to tell me all you know about the Edison Group and your friend, Derek."_

I went to open my mouth and closed it. It's not that I needed Derek here to tell me what to do it was just, he knew more about the Pack then I did. I didn't like the sound of the Pack. It sounded like a cult and the way those men, Liam and Ramon, talked about the Pack didn't make me feel at ease. The man who called himself Jeremy and the Alpha looked at me with kind eyes. I decided to close my mouth because I was unsure and figured it was best not to tell them until I could support the decision. I was sounding more like Derek every day.

"Where is Derek?" I asked. I felt bad, he must have been thinking about me, right? Sometimes the things that Rae had said rung true; I'd only known Derek for two weeks. How could I expect him to look out for me when he had Simon and his dad to worry about.

"He's fine," he said. That seemed to be the end of the conversation. He tried another route. "You said Derek was the one who told you what you are, a necromancer. How'd he tell you?"

I looked at him and then back at the door. "How'd you hear . . . ?" Then I shook my head, "Never mind," his eyes seemed alert and I knew he knew that I knew about werewolves hearing. I might as well cough it up. I was not the type to keep this information top secret. He nodded his head, prodding me to continue about what I knew. "I know that werewolves have heightened senses?" I said trying to get at the sense of smell and hearing with one stone. When the Alpha nodded I continued, "Derek's said his strength seems to be the same as other werewolves. I know he's crazy smart."

"Crazy smart," declared the Alpha with a curious tone. "How smart would you say?" Uh-oh, did I say something wrong?

"He's studying math and science at college levels." I stated seriously and the Alpha seemed to find that odd.

"What else can you tell me about Derek? About his behavior," he expanded and leaned back in his chair. I thought about it. The question seemed harmless until a point.

"Well, he's cautious, protective, gruff, um," I tried to think of the right adjectives to describe Derek. These were the things you did in first grade. Give five adjectives to describe each of your classmates. "He can get angry sometimes," I shrugged.

"He ever hurt you?" he asked seriously. I looked at him oddly and answered truthfully.

"If Derek did he'd hate himself for it and then he wouldn't hang around me. Of course, he'd say it was for my protection. Derek feels responsible for a lot of things that he has no control over." The Alpha took that under consideration. "I'm sorry, but do you mind taking off these handcuffs? I won't try to get away. I mean, I'm smart. I know the chances of me getting away are non-existent."

The Alpha raised his eyebrows and stood up to walk around to the chair I was in. He looked at the cuffs and grunted. "I'll be right back, Chloe. I have to have a talk with Clay." I heard his footsteps leave the room and figured he'd be back. I guessed that Clay was the man who was talking to me before. I heard Jeremy yelling at Clay and felt ill at ease. He soon came back with keys and took off the handcuffs. I massaged my wrists and saw red rings around each of my wrists. I felt grateful that the blood flow was returning to my hands.

"T-thanks," I whispered. He saw something unreadable in his eyes and he didn't go back to sit in his chair. He sighed.

"Enough questions for now," he said, "I'll show you to a room where you can rest and take a shower. I'll have food brought to you." He seemed like that didn't satisfy what he really wanted to do but when I said nothing he left the room and I followed. The stairs were directly to the left of the doorway. We went up those and he brought me to a plain room with white sheets and another door that must have been a bathroom. I so badly wanted to take a shower. Maybe I could get this dye out of my hair.

He just left and closed the door behind me. I went immediately to the bathroom and turned on the shower. I quickly took off all my clothes and hopped in. It took me a long time to fully get all the dye out. I assumed that I'd spent more than a half an hour just on my hair. When I got out of the shower I saw a couple days new clothes neatly folded on the bed and a comb on the dresser. I got dressed in jeans and a blue long sleeved shirt.

I went to the dresser and retrieved the brush and walked to the mirror in the bathroom. I hadn't been able to see my reflection a lot over the past . . . how long had it been? A week, maybe it was more or less? I wasn't sure; all the days were blending together. I'd missed her hair. The blond hair that I'd dyed with the red highlights was gone and I was fine with that. I was happy to have my hair back.

There was food that was on a desk I hadn't seen before I got in the shower. It was pancakes and ham. I gobbled it down as fast as I could manage taking gulps of milk in between bites. When I finished I felt full; it was an odd feeling since I hadn't been feeling a lot of that lately. I thought of all the things the Alpha would want to know. It was just another thing to tell him. I looked in the drawers of the desk and then found a pen and pad of paper.

I wrote down everything. The names of the adults, who were leading the Edison Project and I also wrote down all the kids that were involved, including the kids that were . . . terminated. I wrote their names and powers. I wrote things about Derek that they might want to know, the things about his changes though they weren't completed. I filled in anything I could think of and filled out countless pages.

I had to do _something_. If I didn't I'd end up thinking about Simon and Tori and how I should be with them. Not here. I closed my eyes. I put the pad and pen by the tray of food that it once held and walked over to the bed. I sat on it and my thoughts fled from Simon and Tori to Derek, who I knew was probably worse off. Eventually sleep found me but I didn't get the satisfied sleep of a restful and relaxed person. I don't think that was in my close future, not by a long shot.


	3. A Few More Questions

_Eventually sleep found me but I didn't get the satisfied sleep of a restful and relaxed person. I don't think that was in my close future, not by a long shot._

I turned over in my sleep . . . or should I say I tried to, but something was holding me down. I opened my eyes and screamed. Straight from the horror movies I studied so closely at my old school, was the scream that came from my mouth. There was a body on top of me . . . again.

What was even worse was that I could tell the person had died a long time ago. And it was human. I saw the man, who had questioned me first, and he dragged the body off me. Sadly, the body kept on moving. I had to release his soul. Of course, last time that had _not_ gone so smoothly.

I moved back to the corner of the bed and focused on the body that was being pinned down by Clay. I felt myself aware of the body's energy. I was about to try to release it when I heard metal scream almost as loudly as I had. That was what distracted me and that's what caused me to forget about the dead body . . . momentarily.

The next thing I knew I saw Derek in the doorway. He stopped in the doorway for a second, just looking at the room then walked over to me. He knelt down by the side of the bed. He looked tired and disheveled. Yet, he looked so impassioned. "Chloe, Chloe!" he yelled at me and I snapped to attention. "You have to release the spirit." He said remaining contact, like if he didn't I'd stay in shock. What made me know for sure that it was Derek was that he was yelling at me to do the obvious. But I appreciated the direction, a little.

I looked at the body and remained focused. "I release you," I said in a normal voice. Unlike the other time that I screamed it, since I was scared to death, no pun intended. I said it strongly and from my heart . . . I think so anyway. I can't really describe it. I was just happy that the body on the floor stopped moving.

Clay got up and turned to look at me with an indescribable look on his face. I knew the feeling. I figured by now that a fifteen year-old girl should not have been able to do that. Even if I was a necromancer. He seemed like he wanted to ask a question but wasn't sure which one to ask first. He opened his mouth when the woman and man, Elena and Jeremy, came in the doorway and froze. He turned to them and just said to them. "She just raised a man from the dead."

What he said bothered me a little. He said it like I'd done it on purpose. I tried to set him straight. "I-I-I," I stopped and tried again but fortunately Derek spoke for me. And should I say, unfortunately, because his speaking drew attention to him. Which was bad, because the three werewolves looked at him in confusion.

"She didn't do it on purpose," he said seriously, almost like he was offended that Clay would talk about me in such a manner. In a sense I was grateful to Derek for speaking for me but I was ungrateful for him speaking for me. I just wanted them to realize I had raised the dead in my sleep. "She was sleeping."

"How are you out of the cage?" I felt my eyes widen and turned to look at Derek. I realized that he wasn't disheveled, he was hurt. It looked like he had burns on the inside of his palms and parts of his arms. I guess he felt my alarm because he looked at me and tried to calm me down. He was the one with burn marks on his arms! Sometimes Derek doesn't seem to have any sense of self preservation.

"I'm fine! You're the one with the burn marks!" But, sadly, like always, he ignored me. He turned to Clay. "I ripped the bars off."

When he said that everyone looked at him, and it was utterly silent. He was walked back to the basement, where he was going to be put in a cage. I tried to protest but Derek just told me he'd be fine.

Clay removed the body from my room and said they'd like to talk to me soon. I figured by the looks they were giving each other they wanted to have a quick conference about what I'd just done. They left me in my room but I had to know what they'd say. Knowing they had super senses, I walked quietly and very slowly to the top of the stairs where I could here just enough of the conversation to be shocked.

"I don't understand how a teenage werewolf could control himself around a human without even taking a swipe at her," I heard the woman sigh.

"A werewolf can be as crazy as can be but will never hurt their mate," said Jeremy randomly, but the others seemed to understand him. I didn't understand him but Clay seemed to help me understand with his next statement.

"You can't honestly think that he's taken that girl as his mate, Jeremy. That's crazy. We don't mate with humans. Sure, we date them but it's not like we get tremendously serious with them!" Clay's statement intrigued me. I don't know why but I was dismayed. I don't know why I was.

"Why not, Clay? He doesn't know our rules, and thrown into a place like Lyle house don't you think he'd find companionship with a pretty girl who might understand what he was going through?" That seemed to have stumped Clay but Jeremy continued to my dismay. I was feeling ill at ease. "How else could a teenage werewolf just rip himself out of a metal _cage_? It only makes sense if you try to see it through Derek's eyes. He thought his mate was in danger. Isn't that the least you would do if you though Elena was in danger?" I heard Clay grunt in what I assumed as a yes. After a moment the woman, Elena, broke into the conversation, taking it in a different direction.

"Do you think the girl knows?" she asked thoughtfully. There was a moment and I could hear the silence speaking as confusion for the men with her. She snorted slightly and tried to help them understand her line of questioning. "Do you think the girl is aware that Derek thinks of her as his mate or do you think she's ignorant and doesn't know any better?" The men seemed to think about this and then Clay spoke.

"I don't think she knows," he stopped but soon continued to share his insight with the other two. "I referred to Derek as her boyfriend and she corrected me, saying he was just a friend. But why is it important, Elena?"

"I'm curious as to what her motivation would be to lie for Derek. If he was her boyfriend I think she'd be more inclined to lie for him. But if they were just friends by convenience then it's a different story but I don't think either is true. I think they are friends that would lie to protect each other considering they were just thrown into a psych ward and told they were crazy when they really weren't."

"You think she's lying?" asked Jeremy with what sounded like he felt the opposite.

"No, but if she does," she let it hang in the air, "Like I said, I was just curious. It must be hard to wake up one day and realize you can raise the dead. And I thought I had it was tough for me. God, she's only fifteen." They seemed to think on that and silence was what answered her thought process.

I tried to breathe and think about what they were talking about. They were saying that they thought that Derek thought of me as his mate. I couldn't really think of a response to that. I was kind of flabbergasted. I mean, thinking back I don't think he ever thought of me like that. But . . . and then I heard the office door open and Clay was looking straight at me. I smiled a small smile hoping that my sneaking could be forgiven but felt the worry clear on my face. Clay just waved me into the office. Not even trying to call me on it.

I scrambled at the top of the stair case and went into the office. I sat on a chair while Elena and Clay sat on a couch to the left of me and Jeremy across from me. "How much did you hear?"

"I-I-I d-d-d-didn't hear anything," I stammered. They all didn't push the point knowing I would never admit to eavesdropping. Jeremy looked at me. "Chloe, on the pad you gave us names of kids involved with this Edison Group. Is Derek the only werewolf?"

"Y-yes." I stated simply, barely stuttering. He nodded.

"Is it just you and Derek traveling together?" he asked curiously. I didn't know whether or not to tell Jeremy about Simon and Tori. I nodded hesitantly. Without Derek here to tell me whether or not it was safe to tell Jeremy I decided to tell the truth. I didn't want to get caught lying. Yeah, that was a good reason. I'd have to remember that when Derek yelled at me for telling Jeremy about Simon and Tori.

"Where are they? Who are they?" he asked more seriously.

"Upstate New York," I whispered.

"Why aren't you with them?" he asked soothingly. He made me feel safer; I guess that was just an Alpha thing. I didn't care. I hadn't felt this safe since before this whole thing started.

"Derek and I had to get off the bus."

"Why did you have to get off the bus?" I shook my head. I may tell them about Simon and Tori but I knew where the line was no matter how hesitant I was. Certain things about Derek would remain secret. Simon didn't even know about his almost-changes.

"Why Upstate New York?"

"A friend of Simon's father lives here. They need him to help us find Simon's dad."

"Why?" he asked. Obviously he knew that Simon would want his dad back but he knew there were ulterior motives.

"Because he knows everything: the Edison Group, Derek's father, my mother, he knew them. He was one of them. We get him we can kill the Edison Group. Without him, we don't know a thing." It was quiet for a moment and then Jeremy nodded his head.

"Clay, Elena, pack your bags. You're going with Chloe to pick up her friends," he gave Clay a look when he looked like he was going to interject. "I'll call Paige. She'll be interested in this. She'll definitely lend us help if she doesn't come herself, that is."

"You're sending us after two teenagers?"

"Yes," said Jeremy with a small smile, like he couldn't grasp it himself either. Great. I was going on a road trip with a man that scared me half to death and a woman who scared me about the same. Why couldn't necromancy skip a generation?


	4. The Search

Dear Readers,

Sorry it's been so long! I hope you keep reading! I promise to make quicker updates! Let me know if you have any comments or questions!!!

Beautyandthebooks.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own any of the characters in this Fanfic.

* * *

"_You're sending us after two teenagers?" Clay asked._

"_Yes," said Jeremy with a small smile, like he couldn't grasp it himself either. Great. I was going on a road trip with a man that scared me half to death and a woman who scared me about the same. Why couldn't necromancy skip a generation?_

I ended up in the back of an SUV with two werewolves that were not the cuddliest werewolves in the bunch. At least I hoped not. It was a little less than an hour to the address that Derek gave us. Even though I asked them if Derek could come they said it was best if he stayed with Jeremy. They said there was a lot to talk about. Jeremy promised he would not hurt Derek while I was gone. What bothered me was that he made sure to say "while you're gone." As if to say that there weren't any guarantees when I came back. And Now I had an hour to think about what exactly that meant.

When we arrived, it was night. Clay and Elena went to check the house and told me to stay in the car. I was going too, really, but when I realized there were no lights on in the house I knew they weren't there. It's just when I saw the pool house in the back of the yard, I just knew that's where Simon and Tori would be.

I slid out of the car and walked cautiously across the yard. When I got to the pool house I slowly opened the door. When I saw Tori I smiled, but when she saw me she screamed. Guess I was a little too quiet, huh?

I saw Simon and Tori sitting on lawn chairs with a few wrappers and soda cans on the ground. When Simon saw me he walked up and gave me a hug. "Where's Derek," he asked. I felt horrible, would he not come if I told him Derek wasn't here?

"You've got to come with me," I said. I saw Elena coming towards us from the house. She had a disapproving look on her face. "Derek's safe, but we've got to go. Where's Andrew?"

"No clue," said Simon as he shrugged his shoulders. Tori quickly grabbed her stuff and so did Simon. They both stopped dead when they saw Elena. Tori shot me a hate glare.

"Tori I didn't rat you out." I said quickly, "They're from the Pack," I explained and Simon seemed like he wanted to know more but I just waved him forward. Now was not the time to talk about what had happened in the last day or so.

He seemed to understand and they both rushed out of the pool house. Elena walked with us as we got to the SUV. She opened the truck and Simon and Tori threw their stuff in the back.

We all turned around as we heard grunting coming from the woods. Elena tensed. "Get in the car and lock the doors," she said with authority. Simon and Tori headed towards the back seat. I closed the trunk and distantly heard something pop.

Little did I know that it was the pulling of a trigger. It hit me in the middle of my upper left arm. We all seemed to freeze for a minute. I'd just been shot. And we heard footsteps coming closer.

Simon grabbed me around the waist and pulled me into a standing position. We quickly threw ourselves into the back seat with Tori and locked the doors. Sadly, that did nothing to stop the footsteps from coming closer. What happened next was so close to giving me a coronary.

Tori flung open the door and did something with her arms and the guy holding the gun flew back and hit a tree, knocking him out. Tori quickly closed the door, locked it and gave me a look. "I'm not an idiot," she said with sarcasm. Well at least she would die sarcastic.

Simon looked at my arm and the blood that kept coming from it with worry. He took of his excess shirt and tied it in a notch above the wound. It caused me to yell out in pain but slowed the bleeding. But it didn't stop it. I was starting breathe heavier and felt the world tipping at the edges.

We heard more approaching steps and Simon hopped into the front seat and turned on the car. He put it into reverse and floored it. He stopped when we heard a sickening _thud! _I met his eyes in the rearview mirror as he realized what he'd done. "Don't worry," I soothed him, "They're not dead." Of course I didn't know if I was lying or not. I didn't even know if I could determine that but in the rush of the moment, it appeased Simon.

"I don't care!" screamed Tori. "Just get us out of here!" She said as her eyes shot us killer glares.

"But what about Andrew and -" I exclaimed. But Tori cut me off.

"Just park around the corner or something," she rationalized. "Just not here! They'll just keep coming and they have guns!" Like I needed the reminder. Simon seemed to echo my thoughts. He put the car in drive anyways. I couldn't fault Tori. What else were we supposed to do? Tori could use a kick back spell on all of them before they started firing at her.

The car lurched forward and we drove down the street and around the corner. Simon stopped after less than a couple minutes. I was hoping Elena and Clay could still find us. We waited a few more minutes and as the minutes went on, I became more and more tired.

"Chloe!" Simon shouted and I tiredly looked up at him. "You have to stay awake, Chloe," he said with a strain in his voice. We all seemed to stop breathing when we heard a commotion in the woods to our left. We all silently looked over to see what was coming for us. It was like watching an accident happen. You couldn't look away. It was exactly what would happen in a common thriller.

I felt myself breathe when I saw Clay burst through the shrubbery. I never figured that I'd be so happy to see the scary werewolf. Elena came right behind him, holding up an Asian man who I assumed was Andrew. They were less than fifteen minutes away and I breathed a sigh of relief.

I let my head rest against the side door. I just needed a few minutes of rest. I was so tired. I felt someone shaking my left arm harshly. Owww! That hurt. I felt my eyes open and I saw a blur of colors. I heard a man speaking quickly and someone telling me to hold on. I was trying to but it was so hard. And eventually I gave myself up to the comforting darkness. At least there were no ghosts there. Hopefully.

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Let me know what you think! Please R & R!!!


	5. Aftermath

Dear Readers,

Sorry it's been a couple days. I tried to post earlier but the site apparently hated me for a day or so. We've made up and it allowed me to post this chapter. Yay. I hope you like it. Please let me know if you have any comments, questions, or feedback! Please R&R!

By the way, someone had commented that they didn't know Andrew was Asian. I realize now that Simon's father is Asian but I have absolutely no idea if Andrew is white or Asian or I just compelled my own version of Andrew in my fanfic. Please help me out if anyone _does_ know! It's been bothering me and I couldn't find it in the book!

Beautyandthebooks.

* * *

_I let my head rest against the side door. I just needed a few minutes of rest. I was so tired. I felt someone shaking my left arm harshly. Owww! That hurt. I felt my eyes open and I saw a blur of colors. I heard a man speaking quickly and someone telling me to hold on. I was trying to but it was so hard. And eventually I gave myself up to the comforting darkness. At least there were no ghosts there. Hopefully._

I felt like I was in the dark, floating. It was so quiet and peaceful. I felt like I could finally rest. I was so tired of worrying or being scared. It was nice to just be. I felt a stab of pain. I hurt all over. My peaceful surrounding was interrupted by such loud voices. I had to pay attention so I could hear them.

"You have to help her!"

"I'm working on it!"

"She's been out cold for a half an hour! What if she doesn't wake up?!"

Among the voices I also heard sniffling and someone breathing harder, as if they wind was knocked out of them. I felt the same except I was having trouble catching my breath. It was like I had run too long and I was tired, queasy, and all around hurting.

I felt a sharp pain that was fresher than my current ache. It also hit my face instead of my arm where the real pain was emanating from. I felt myself make a sound full of pain. I felt my eyes open up a crack. The colors were blurred and I immediately shut them. I did not want to add throwing up to the list of things to do.

Someone was doing something to my arm. It felt like they were digging around for loose change. I started thrashing about and was instantly held down. I tried to open my eyes but instead couldn't I was so filled with pain. And I was tired. I screamed as something touched my arm.

"Give her a shot," said someone, "We have about thirty seconds from getting too much attention drawn to ourselves."

I heard the shuffling of objects and clinking before something cool was stuck in my arm and I succumbed to darkness in less than a minute. This darkness was less peaceful, calming and restful. It was uneasy and not natural. I felt an odd tired. But nonetheless I let it take me. I was so cold. I was just too tired – whether it was normal or not – to fight. Against anything.

* * *

I woke up warm. My mind was foggy and I couldn't really focus for several minutes. After looking around the room and finding it completely unfamiliar, I tried to sit up. Bad idea. I let out a loud hiss of pain as I realized the throbbing pain was all too real. It didn't help that my head was pounding in rhythm with my arm. The door cracked open and a man who I didn't recognize stepped in.

He must have seen the alarm on my face and held up his hands trying to calm me. "I'm with the Pack," he said. Well, that caused me more panic. He seemed to realize this and tried to think of something else to say. "You're friends are downstairs," he said with a small, worrisome smile, "We're eating breakfast, if you want to come downstairs."

He waited a second and I got up from the bed making sure not to use my left arm. I was a little unsteady on my feet and approached the man. He held out his hand. "I'm Nick," he said with a small smile, obviously trying not to scare me. I looked at his hand for a few seconds and knew he was thinking about dropping his hand when I put my hand in his and shook it lightly.

He motioned for me to go first down the hallway but I looked warily at him. I wasn't very trusting of people right now and having a werewolf who could certainly kill me with the snap of his fist didn't calm my nerves. He must have seen it on my face. He walked at a slow pace down the hallway with a quick motion of his hand asking me to follow him.

I stayed behind for a second before following. I figured after being shot I couldn't have anything worse happen. Technically that wasn't true but I was hungry and even though I didn't have werewolf senses I was sure I could smell bacon.

I followed Nick down the hallway and the stairs. He took me to the kitchen where I saw Tori, Simon, and Derek sitting at the kitchen table eating breakfast. Derek looked up at me with an expression of relief and something else. Simon smiled up at me and looked like he was about to ask me something when Tori did something none of us expected.

She quickly got up from the table and flung her arms around me, enfolding me in a hug. My first reaction was shock. Tori, even when being civil, was never nice to me. My second reaction was that of pain. Tori was hurting me. It was just indirectly. The first time she does something vaguely nice, it has a bad end product. She was squeezing me around my upper left arm.

I made a hissing noise and pulled back. Tori pulled back with an actual look of sincerity on her face as she apologized. She pulled my right – and uninjured – arm, so that I was sitting down next to her. Simon and Derek were both looking at me like they wanted to say something. I looked out of the corner of my eye to see if my suspicions were right. They were. Everyone in the room was staring at me. I felt my face start to turn pink. I never did deal with attention well.

"Excuse me, but Chloe doesn't like it when people stare at her," said Tori to the whole room . . . of werewolves . . . and Simon. I felt myself turn slightly pinker. I couldn't stop the snort/chuckle that worked its way out of my mouth. Only Tori would order a room full of werewolves to stop looking at me. A room full of werewolves that could easily snap her neck. Meanwhile I had been shot. Again. With a real bullet. Derek had been stuck in a metal cage. And my entire life was turned upside down.

Derek looked at me like he had no idea why I had laughed but Simon smiled and let out a chuckle. Derek looked at Simon, "What's so funny?" Simon looked at me, hoping I'd explain.

"My life," I muttered and because of Derek's hearing he pinned me with his gaze till I spilled. Stupid Derek and his stupid truth telling gaze. "You do realize that in the past two weeks I've been kidnapped, escaped, run from the law, been shot twice, and am now staying with werewolves – mythical creatures that I'd thought didn't exist until two weeks ago. Or the fact that I can raise the dead. So yeah, my life is freaking hilarious."

It took a second and Tori started laughing rather hard and Simon just shook his head like he couldn't believe it either. I shot a look at Tori and she tried to get out what she was saying between laughs. "It's taken all that to finally get you to rant and even when you do, it's not mean. Do you ever get angry? I mean, seriously, it's healthy," she said with another laugh. Someone cleared their throat.

"Did you just say you'd been shot twice? This isn't the first time?" asked Nick who had been in the kitchen making a plate for himself that could reach the sky.

"If tranquilizers count," I said, "then, yes, I've been shot successfully twice. Apparently my reflexes suck."

"Paige is here," said Elena, unhitching herself from the wall she was leaning up against. I was using my deductive skills by saying that she was using her heightened senses. Elena walked to the front door, followed by Nick and a man that looked like him – probably his brother.

A short woman with a petite figure came in the front door and was greeted by the men. They talked in hushed voices, looking at us, until all six of them filtered into the library. We were alone. I looked back at Derek, Simon, and Tori, opening my mouth when Derek cut me off by putting his finger to his lips. He pointed to the library and then to his ear. The wolves could hear us. I guess we were acting under the suspicion that they weren't going to help us. It was quiet and I suddenly realized there were only four of us.

"Where's Andrew?" I asked. I figured that was a werewolf friendly question to ask. Derek answered me quickly.

"He's sleeping," he said. We ate quietly and as much as we could. It was the first meal that didn't have limits. About fifteen minutes later the adults filed out of the room. I didn't know if they knew it or not but they looked intimidating. It was like they had done this before, like they had a plan.

Jeremy took a seat across the table from all of us with a serious expression on his face. He looked like he was facing an inner battle. "We decided to help you out as much as we can," he said, "The Pack will do its best to help you to the best of our ability but we won't help you at the risk of our own."

I felt disheartened. Who would help us? I heard someone coming down the steps. Turning, I saw that it was Andrew. He seemed to catch the tail end of what Jeremy was saying. He had an angered expression on his face. "I'm surprised you wouldn't strive to help them," he said with strong emotion in his voice.

"Why wouldn't we do that?" asked Clay with an angered expression but Andrew didn't back down.

"Possibly because Derek is Pack," shot back.

"I think we'd know if he was Pack. Because to be Pack, you have to be fathered by someone already in the Pack or to be accepted and he hasn't been accepted." Clay said scathingly.

"Well, then maybe it's because he was fathered by someone in the back," stated Andrew.

"How the hell would you know?" asked Jeremy. All the men of the Pack were looking at each other and looking at Derek.

"His mother told me who his father was. And it was one of you."

* * *

I hope you liked it! Sorry about the cliff hangers! I'll update soon! I might even update sooner if I get a lot of feedback on the chapter!!!

Beautyandthebooks.


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